Israel

Higher Education

Campus of Hebrew University, JerusalemCourtesy Les Vogel

In the late 1980s, seven universities existed in Israel: the
Technion (Israel Institute for Technology, founded in 1912); the
Hebrew University (1925); Tel Aviv University (begun in 1935,
functioning fully since 1956); Bar-Ilan University (1955); Haifa
University (1963); Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (1965); and
the postgraduate Weizmann Institute of Technology (1934). Higher
education in Israel has grown tremendously since independence: in
the 1948-49 academic year a total of 1,635 students attended
degree-granting institutions, whereas in 1986-87 the figure was
67,160. In terms of enrollments, the largest institution was Tel
Aviv University (19,400 students in 1986-87), followed by Hebrew
University (16,870), Bar-Ilan (9,480), the Technion (9,090), Haifa
(6,550), Ben-Gurion University (5,200), and the Weizmann Institute
(570).

Israeli universities have not been isolated from the larger
problems of society. High inflation and budget cutbacks have hit
them severely since the late 1970s; many observers have expressed
fear of a potential "brain-drain" as talented academics, unable to
find suitable employment in Israel, emigrate. There have been
repeated calls to increase the number of Israelis of Oriental
background in colleges and universities, at the same time that
charges of "compromised standards" have been advanced. The
university campuses have also been centers of political activity
among all shades of the political spectrum in Israel, including
Arab students.